Knoxville's favorite children's literary festival will be held on May 30 in World's Fair Park
Knox County Public Library is gearing up for llamas and dramas of all sort at the 5th annual Children's Festival of Reading on Saturday, May 30 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at World's Fair Park in downtown Knoxville.
In a fun-filled afternoon, the public is invited to meet and greet their favorite authors, illustrators, storytellers, and musicians. The fun continues all day long with a mad scientist, a roaming magician, arts & crafts, giant inflatables, a hayride, and even a petting zoo complete with real live llamas. Over 10,000 people are expected to join the festivities, which are free and open to the public.
This year, the Library is proud to present Anna Dewdney as the featured picture book author. Dewdney writes the popular Llama Llama series, picked to be part of the official Imagination Library collection. At 11:30 a.m., the Red Pajama Llama Parade will be circulating the Park. Attendees are encouraged to don their stylish red PJs and join the parade.
Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, author Kristin Tubb will discuss her book, Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different, a children's novel that chronicles the development of the Park and the displacement of the families in Cades Cove. The book is narrated by the plucky 11-year-old Autumn who likes to do things her way.
Other featured artists include poet and spoken word artist Allan Wolf, writer Michael Shoulders, Emmy Award winning storyteller Bobby Norfolk, Academy Award winning songwriter and children's author Dean Pitchford, roaming magician Michael Messing, author of the Sherlock Files series Tracy Barrett, and Roger Day, Disney Radio's star and winner of Parent's Choice Gold Award. See detailed bios below.
The Children's Festival of Reading is the kickoff celebration for the Summer Library Clubs at the Library. Offering programs for children (both readers and listeners), teens and adults, the Library is committed to helping Knox County enjoy reading all summer long.
The Festival is made possible through the generous support of Books-A-Million, Friends of the Library, ORNL Federal Credit Union, Tennessee Arts Commission, Humanities Tennessee, National Endowment of the Arts, East Tennessee Foundation, Mayfield Dairies, CBID/Downtown Knoxville, WVLT-TV, Comcast, B97.5, Knoxville News Sentinel and knoxmoms.com.
Learn more about the Children's Festival of Reading at
www.knoxlib.org or by calling 215-8767.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Anna Dewdney has spent most of her adult life teaching dyslexic boys in Vermont. Her writing, however, is rooted in a childhood ritual of reading A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh with her father. Her foray into writing and illustrating children's books has sparked a hugely popular response to her mother and son team, Llama llama and Mama llama, who together have explored the anxiety of bedtime in Llama Llama Red Pajama and the trails of shopping in Llama Llama Mad at Mama. Her most recent book, Llama Llama Misses Mama, sends baby llama off to school for the first time. Winner of numerous awards, the New York Times best selling author is set to make two presentations and lead the parade at the Children's Festival of Reading.
Allan Wolf is the Educational Director for Poetry Alive!, a national touring company that presents theatrical poetry shows for all ages. Wolf's mission has always been to take poetry to the people. His books include The Blood-Hungry Spleen and Other Poems About Our Parts, and New Found Land: Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery (chosen as a School Library Journal Best Book, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and an IRA Children's Book Award Notable).
Bobby Norfolk: A three time Emmy-award winning storyteller, Bobby Norfolk will be presenting his newest book, The Moral of the Story: Folktales for Character Development. He'll show that character education, using storytelling and folktales from cultures around the world, can be fun, enjoyable, non-didactic and remarkably effective.
Dean Pitchford's work has garnered an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, three Oscar nominations, five Grammy nominations, and two Tony nominations over the last 20 years. Now, Pitchford is beginning to use his award-winning talents in the world of children's literature with his books The Big One-Oh (nominated for a Grammy for the Best Spoken Word Album for Children) and Captain Nobody.
Michael Shoulders's books center on the building blocks of education, such as numbers and letters, while simultaneously teaching children about southern culture. His collection includes Count On Us, V is for Volunteer and Say Daddy! (a Top Pick for the National Parenting Publication Award).
Kristin O�Donnell Tubb knows about doing things different. As a freelance writer from Franklin TN, she tackled her first novel to rave reviews. Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different (Delacourt Press) is an historical fiction account of the beginnings of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park through the eyes of the plucky 11-year-old Autumn who likes to do things her way. Tubb�s many writing gigs include a lot of licensed character books: Scooby-Doo (Ruh-roh!), Strawberry Shortcake (Berry cool!), Bugs Bunny (Ain't I a stinker?), the PowerPuff Girls (Game over!) and next year, the new Holly Hobbie & Friends (Hey, girl!).
Tracy Barrett's most recent publications include a series called "The Sherlock Files," The 100-Year-Old Secret; a middle-grade novel, On Etruscan Time; and a nonfiction history for middle-schoolers, The Ancient Chinese World (with Terry Kleeman). The year 2010 will see publication of The Case That Time Forgot (Book 3 of "The Sherlock Files") and King of Ithaka, a young-adult novel based on Homer's Odyssey. Mrs. Barrett teaches Italian at Vanderbilt University.